Ilan Ramon was something special for all of us. He rose above all the current disputes and represented links with the roots of the past and with hesitant hope for the future.
I didn't really follow the media festival that accompanied the lift-off of the first Israeli astronaut. Something in these media spins turns me off, regardless of the subject.
Despite this, I felt that this was something different. This modest man, with such a brilliant combat record, who was now attracting the attention of the entire world, wearing a shy grin, did not devote the world acclaim that he received to advance his own private ego. He didn't make a universal, politically correct statement ("From space I shall call for peace with the Palestinians." - a sentence that would have gone down well over CNN). He didn't even focus attention on the State of Israel. He understood what he really was and what he represented, first and foremost - the Jewish people.
We have become accustomed to the appearance, in all kinds of international events, of Israeli representatives who wish to appease the barely disguised anti-Semitism of their hosts: A delegation to the Eurovision contest that persists in waving the Syrian flag, a well-known conductor who makes a point of playing compositions of the spiritual father of the Third Reich, or just an ordinary Israeli "artist" who presents in Norway a "creation" justifying the murder of Jews. Israelis who have been brought up to deny that they are different from others, who reject their unique Jewish identity, and who lack a religious basis, inevitably attempt to assimilate when they go abroad.
This is what happens at best, but at worst, they identify with anti-Semitism. "I am really a successful Israeli. I display no signs of Judaism. The proof of this is that I understand the anti-Semites. I am actually on their side."
Ilan Ramon did not come from a religious background of any kind. He really represented the perfect Israeli. He was secular, educated, heroic, handsome, successful, married with successful children, a man of the world - in short, an example of the ultimate Israeli.
But when this person reached the summit of popular attention, something strange happened. He was permitted to take a small number of items with him. He insisted on taking with him a Torah scroll that had been smuggled out of a concentration camp, affixing a mezuzah on the door of the space ship, eating kosher food, and observing Shabbat in public. What had happened? It's not clear what caused Ramon to act so strangely.
Perhaps it was the result of the years of training in a country that knows how to separate religion from politics, while at the same time recalling its faith in G-d both in the president's speeches and on its bank notes. The demonic fear of their faith, created by the Israeli political system, vanishes when Israelis leave Israel. The religion doesn't seem to present a threat in Nepal, where thousands of Israeli backpackers participate in the Seder night organized by Chabad.
But this explanation is not fair to Ilan. He was really a great man, who at a time of trial knew how to connect to the truth. It doesn't really matter what caused it. What is important is that is happened to the ultimate Israeli, and when the time comes, this truth will be revealed to all the Israelis.
No, they won't suddenly return to their Judaism in the style of Uri Zohar. I hope not. I don't want them for myself, but for themselves. A kind of real, general process, that Ramon expressed so well.
Those who believe that the internal Jewish flame in the hearts of the Israelis continues to burn, should find hope in the example given by Ilan Ramon.
I didn't really follow the media festival that accompanied the lift-off of the first Israeli astronaut. Something in these media spins turns me off, regardless of the subject.
Despite this, I felt that this was something different. This modest man, with such a brilliant combat record, who was now attracting the attention of the entire world, wearing a shy grin, did not devote the world acclaim that he received to advance his own private ego. He didn't make a universal, politically correct statement ("From space I shall call for peace with the Palestinians." - a sentence that would have gone down well over CNN). He didn't even focus attention on the State of Israel. He understood what he really was and what he represented, first and foremost - the Jewish people.
We have become accustomed to the appearance, in all kinds of international events, of Israeli representatives who wish to appease the barely disguised anti-Semitism of their hosts: A delegation to the Eurovision contest that persists in waving the Syrian flag, a well-known conductor who makes a point of playing compositions of the spiritual father of the Third Reich, or just an ordinary Israeli "artist" who presents in Norway a "creation" justifying the murder of Jews. Israelis who have been brought up to deny that they are different from others, who reject their unique Jewish identity, and who lack a religious basis, inevitably attempt to assimilate when they go abroad.
This is what happens at best, but at worst, they identify with anti-Semitism. "I am really a successful Israeli. I display no signs of Judaism. The proof of this is that I understand the anti-Semites. I am actually on their side."
Ilan Ramon did not come from a religious background of any kind. He really represented the perfect Israeli. He was secular, educated, heroic, handsome, successful, married with successful children, a man of the world - in short, an example of the ultimate Israeli.
But when this person reached the summit of popular attention, something strange happened. He was permitted to take a small number of items with him. He insisted on taking with him a Torah scroll that had been smuggled out of a concentration camp, affixing a mezuzah on the door of the space ship, eating kosher food, and observing Shabbat in public. What had happened? It's not clear what caused Ramon to act so strangely.
Perhaps it was the result of the years of training in a country that knows how to separate religion from politics, while at the same time recalling its faith in G-d both in the president's speeches and on its bank notes. The demonic fear of their faith, created by the Israeli political system, vanishes when Israelis leave Israel. The religion doesn't seem to present a threat in Nepal, where thousands of Israeli backpackers participate in the Seder night organized by Chabad.
But this explanation is not fair to Ilan. He was really a great man, who at a time of trial knew how to connect to the truth. It doesn't really matter what caused it. What is important is that is happened to the ultimate Israeli, and when the time comes, this truth will be revealed to all the Israelis.
No, they won't suddenly return to their Judaism in the style of Uri Zohar. I hope not. I don't want them for myself, but for themselves. A kind of real, general process, that Ramon expressed so well.
Those who believe that the internal Jewish flame in the hearts of the Israelis continues to burn, should find hope in the example given by Ilan Ramon.